Women’s Division II Team Race Between Lincoln (Mo.) & GVSU Continues to Tighten

NEW ORLEANS – With the Division II outdoor track & field regular season now in the books, the races for the men’s and women’s national titles could not look more different in Tuesday’s National Team Computer Rankings, released by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

The battle between the No. 1 Lincoln (Mo.) women and No. 2 Grand Valley State is nearly a virtual dead heat, while defending outdoor men’s national champion No. 1 Saint Augustine’s has opened up a significant advantage over No. 2 Adams State.

Though the regular season concluded this past weekend, Tuesday’s rankings will serve as the second-to-last edition, based on the final national descending order lists.

A final version will be published the Monday before the national championships at Grand Valley State in Allendale, Mich., on May 22-24, that will take into account only those student-athletes entered into the meet.

Accepted entry lists will be released Tuesday by 6 p.m. ET, and will be found here. Heat and flight information will be announced Monday in the same location.

Lincoln’s women remained No. 1 for a second consecutive week, but saw its team score drop by nearly 13 points to 220.73 – perilously close to again falling behind GVSU. The Lakers themselves shed five points from their team score to check in at 219.97.

Team rankings scores do not mirror the points systems used at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, but rather measure team depth based on their student-athletes’ positioning on the national descending order lists.

Women’s Top Five 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) Lincoln (Mo.) 220.73 pts GVSU 219.97 pts Adams St. 191.45 pts Johnson C. Smith 151.38 pts Ashland 147.94 pts View Complete Women’s Rankings

Last week’s RMAC Championships weren’t concluded in time to make the deadline for the week eight rankings, but those performances boosted champion No. 3 Adams State (191.45) by nearly 25 points, squarely back in the discussion for the No. 1 position.

Kayon Robinson’s No. 2 400 meters and No. 3 200 meters performances were the driving force behind the Grizzlies’ surge.

Johnson C. Smith (151.38) remained steady at No. 4, as did Ashland (147.94) at No. 5.

Men’s Top Five 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) Saint Augustine’s 326.98 pts Adams State 228.04 pts Ashland 191.59 pts TAMU-Kingsville 182.92 pts Chico State 123.61 pts View Complete Men’s Rankings

On the men’s side, No. 1 Saint Augustine’s (326.98 team rankings score) continued to grow its lead over No. 2 Adams State (228.04), whose RMAC Championships performance didn’t boost it nearly as powerfully as the ASU women.

The disparity between the two squads outdoors is in stark contrast to their battle at the NCAA DII Indoor Championships, which Saint Augustine’s claimed by a slim 1½ margin over Adams State.

No. 3 Ashland (191.59) and No. 4 Texas A&M-Kingsville (182.92) remained close behind, while Chico State (123.61) rounded out the top five.

Southern Connecticut’s women moved up the farthest of any top-25 team with a 31-position jump to No. 22, while the No. 21 Western State men made a 27-position leap of their own.

The purpose and methodology of the rankings is to create an index that showcases the teams that have the best potential of achieving the top spots in the national team race. Rankings points do not equate with NCAA Championships team points. A full description of the rankings can be found here.